HO.ME OFFICE - Feu 03 0001/0029/003/ -.." RELATED PAPERS FILE BEGINS: __ __ ENDS: FILE TITLE: - : POLICY (REVIEW AFTER 25 YEARS) CULTS I NEW RELIGIOUS MOVEMENTS s: . '- CHURCH OF SCIENTOLOGY JUDICIAL REVIEW - SEND TO I DATE - SEND TO DATE SEND TO -- DATE . ZO,3 -. , - -- 0 0 - -- 0 . 0 - " -0 . 0 0 -- 0 HOF000647241 ese 8111 .. .. --- _ .. - - - -- - -- - _. , - AnnexA Press Office to take Subject: Judicial Review Case: Recognition of Scientology as a religion in prison Tuesday 21 October - permissions hearing for a judicial review on HRA grounds of Prison Service policy not to recognise Scientology as a religion for the purpose of facilitating religious ministry in prisons. Background Prisoner Roger Charles Heaton and the Church of Scientology have made an application for jUdicial review of this policy. Unes to take The applicants, having seen our witness statement and outline argument, have offered to withdraw their case, with no order as to costs. This means that the non-recognition policy being followed by prison service is reasonable .and secure. It has been our long-standing policy to withhold recognition of scientology as a religion. However, in order to meet the needs of individual prisoners, the Prison Service allows any prisoner registered as a Scientologist to have access to a representative of the Church of Scientology if he wishes to receive its ministry. This is the approach which was followed in the case of Mr Heaton. The Home Office considers that its policy respects the rights of Mr Heaton under the ECHR and is reasonable in view of concerns of which the department is aware about some of the practices of the Church. Ifasked Q: Does the Prison Service's policy in fact grant recognition in practice? A: We do not accept that interpretation - we have granted access but not recognition Annex B Where did Scientology come from? The source and founder the Scientology belief is L. Ron Hubbard, who devoted his life to finding answers to questions that have troubled mankind throughout time. In 1950 Hubbard publisbed 'Dianetics: The Modern Science of . Mental Health' which quickly gained interest through its claim to be the 'common peoples science of life and betterment'. Hubbard's response to the popularity of his work was to add a more religious and spiritual aspect to Dianetics thereby creating Scientology in the early 1950s as 'an applied religious philosophy and technology'. The Church of Scientology was founded in 1954 and is the main organisation responsible for promoting and marketing the philosophy and spiritual programme ofScientology. What is Scientology? The word Scientology literally means "knowing how to know". Scientology itself is defined as "the study and handling of the spirit in relationship to itself, universes and other self'. Hubbard claimed to have discovered the conditions which either promote the soul's (or Thetan's) survival and realisation of full potential or make it succumb and wither. It is these principles that Scientologists use to directly encourage awareness and ability to overcome the negative factors that impair their 'spiritual being'. Scientology is a combination of training the mind and of applying the gains in self-understanding and effectiveness to everyday life. It claims to be a religion because it emphasises the spiritual nature of humans and the immortal of the soul. There are Ministers of Scientology, prayers, Sunday Services and rites of passage. However, the majority of members choose only to attend courses and counselling which instruct and train members in the principles of Scientology. Practices 'Auditing' is the process whereby Scientology train themselves to respond to probing questions about their past life without losing their composure,thereby demonstrating that the Theten can eventually 'go clear' of the physical world and become 'at cause' in any situation, Le. it can accept total responsibility for its own actions. Further courses of counselling and training, at progressively higher levels and prices, are designed to cultivate even more elevated spiritual states. The enhanced sense inner potential is supposed to lead to greater success in whatever the trained Scientology chooses to do. Criticisms Serious concerns have been raised about the operation of the Church of Scientology. The practice of charging fees which escalate sharply with the ascending levels of training, often resulting in members incurring large debts, is a source of particular criticism. Some former staff members have also complained about high levels of psycholoqicat pressure on them to work excessively hard for little or no payment. Others have said that personal information they disclosed during auditing sessions was later used by the Church to blackmail them. The .alleged harassment of former members is also a common complaint and the organisation's hostility to psychiatry led to complaints of neglect. Some of these allegations are also made about the activities of other cult organisations. But of the number of complaints and concerns made to the Home Office (and INFORM) about cults, Scientology usually features near the top of the list (thought the actual numbers remain small). Although the allegations against Scientology tend to have similarities world-wide, the difficulty lies in obtaining supporting evidence to sustain them. In the UK there have been one or two notable cases where legal proceedings against the organisation - most recently for libel - have been successful. There have been a few other successful cases in the United States and Europe, but Scientology has won many of the legal.battles in which it has been engaged and has succeeded . in overturning a numberof decisions which have gone against it. Scientology's A search on the internet produces many horror stories of Scientology and the effect it has had on families. This includes allegations of brainwashing, break up and exploitation. However many of these stories are some years old, and the Scientologists do appear to have cleaned up their act significantly: It is thought that one reason that the Church of Scientology did not appeal against the decision of the Charity Commissioners is because the case would have been very public, and many people who felt they had suffered would have come forward. UK and international position The UK has no definition of what constitutes a religion. We have tended to take the line that Scientologists, along with members of other minority religions, are free to follow their own practices and beliefs provided they remain within the law. The Charity Commission refused registration as a charity (in 1999) on the grounds that it is not a religion for the purposes of charity law as they (the Commissioners) did not accept that the practices of auditing and training constituted "worship". And that the public benefit had not been established and could not be presumed. Scientology though is accepted as a religion in many countries. In Australia the for the Governmentcfeftnition of a religion (according to charity law) was a court case involving Scientology. This led to the following recommendation: That the definition of religion be based on principles established in the Scientology case, namely: beliefin supernatural Being, Thing or Principle; and acceptance and observance of canons of conduct in order to give effect to that belief. In the US, Scientology has been recognised as a religion under charity law since 1993. This followed an extensive examination under the Internal Revenue Code. France and some states in Germany have passed laws that make it impossible for a person to be a Scientology and a public servant. Note on the Government's approach to Scientology INO /NO does not recognise Scientology as a religion for the purposes of Immigration Rules. In practice this means that there is no prohibition on Scientologists entering the UK in one capacity or another under the Rules e.g. as a student or visitor and fo/iowing the doctrines of belief whilst here. But persons connected with the organisation are not recognised as "ministers of religion" and do not therefore qualify for admission under the specific category of the Rules that enables such .persons to enter for permit-free employment as ministers of religion, missionaries or members of a religious order. This has been INO's position for quite some time and derives from the 1970 Court of Appeal judgement in ex parte Segerdal that held that scientology chapels did not constitute places of religious worship under the Places of Worship Registration Act 1955. This was because the ceremonies carried out in the building were focused not on prayer to a Supreme Being but on instruction in a philosophy concerned with man. INO have also taken note of the more recent decision of the Charity Commissioners not to grant charitable status on the grounds that they did not agree that Scientology had been established "for the advancement of religion". Charites The Charities Unit are taking forward amendments to the Charity Law which refer to the category of 'religious charities' (the public benefit aspect of the law will remain as it is). The unit do not expect that the amendments will alter the previous decision of the Charity Commission in 1999 and that Scientology would still be refused recognition as a charity on these grounds. Furthermore, if the Church were to win the judicial review, the unit think that this will make no difference to the Charity Law and any future decisions made towards the church - this is because the definition of religion and public benefit are for the purposes of Charity Law only. Charities Commission The issue of whether the Church of Scientology was a religion within the meaning of charity law was only an aspect of the decision not to recognise the Church as a charity. Other aspects of the decision was that it was not shown to be established for the public benefit which is the other criterion which would need to be established for it to be accepted as a charity.